The Qur'an is the Holy Book of Islam; also spelled as Koran. Muslims treasure the text in its original Arabic as the literal word of God, the last of God's books revealed to humanity, transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad. The book is composed of sacred writings accepted by Muslims as revelations made to Muhammad by Allah.
A religious leader and spokesperson, particularly used in the Bible. The prophets emitted messages from the divine through inspired speech, the interpretation of omens and dreams, and the casting of lots and divination.
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia In Christian, Jewish, and Muslim belief, the rising from the dead that all souls will experience at the Last Judgement.
In theology, doctrine that asserts that God predestines from eternity the salvation of certain souls. So-called double predestination, as in Calvinism, is the added assertion that God also foreordains certain souls to damnation.
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia Muslim worship can be private or public. In Islam there are five ways in which a Muslim is expected to worship Allah. Islam can be compared to a house with a sound structure. It has a firm foundation and five supporting pillars.
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia The first duty of the Five Pillars of Islam. It is a statement of faith - ‘I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah’.
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia In Islam, the obligatory duty to pay annually a percentage of income as alms; it is the third of the Five Pillars of Islam. The payment ‘cleanses’ the income of possessiveness, and reminds Muslims that everything is owned by God.
The pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of the five basic requirements (arkan or "pillars") of Islam. Its annual observance corresponds to the major holy day id al-adha, itself a commemoration of Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son on Divine orders.